Saturn Dazzles in Group Portrait
November 13, 2013
Saturn, its moons and rings, Venus, Mars, and Earth and its moon appear together for the first time in a new image released today by NASA. The portrait is actually a mosaic of 141 images taken by the Cassini space probe on July 19, 2013, as part of the “Wave at Saturn” campaign. On that day, tens of thousands of Earthlings posed for Cassini’s cameras as Saturn and its entire ring system was backlit by the sun. The image, which reveals the fifth planet as it would be seen by human eyes, shows a 404,800-mile- (651,591-kilometer-) wide expanse of Saturn and most of its rings. On July 19, Earth was 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away.
Cassini was launched on October 15, 1997, specifically to study Saturn and its rings and satellites. The spacecraft began orbiting Saturn on July 1, 2004.
Additional World Book articles:
- Close Encounters with Saturn (a special report)
- Exploring the Suburban Solar System (a special report)